South Side Irish Parade to be a family fest instead

December 22, 2009

Parade-goers turn out for the 2009 South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago. (Jose M. Osori/Chicago Tribune)

The tradition of the South Side Irish Parade, a victim of its own success, will be carried on in a family fest that will be part of 10 days of celebrations next March, organizers said on their Web site.

The South Side Irish Parade Committee announced March 25 that it would no longer sponsor the parade because the estimated 300,000 revelers each year were too much for the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods to take.

"Mashing 300,000 people in here is a little too much for this neighborhood," Mary Beth Sheehan, a spokeswoman for the parade, said at the time.

Next March, the parade committee plans to hold a South Side Irish Parade Family Fest on Saturday, March 13, at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., according to a statement posted on the committee's Web site.

The festival will include children's movies, a live production by the Beverly Arts Center's children's theater group, and live entertainment, according to the statement.

In the days leading up the festival, the parade committee and others will sponsor a series of events, starting with the decade-old Chicago Irish Film Festival. Also included will be the Chicago Rose of Tralee contest, a competition for women in their teens and 20s centered on knowledge and dedication to Irish heritage, according to the statement.

The Irish heritage events will culminate with an Irish Mass at St. Cajetan Catholic Church at 9 a.m. on Sunday March 14, the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day followed by a reception at the arts center.

The South Side Irish Parade began as an alternative to the downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade; it was usually held the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day.